Kenya’s Flower Exports Recover Up to 97%

According to a survey done by the Central Bank of Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) indicates the demand for Kenya’s cut flowers in the export market has recovered to a level of 97%. This recovery was boosted tremendously during Valentine’s Day period.

The MPC conducted the survey between March 15 and March 17 to check and assess the recovery of revenue generated in the flower market sector.

This recovery comes in the wake of the horticulture sector being affected severely since last year from the wake of the pandemic. The restrictions that were put all over the world that blocked international flights from going in and out of countries saw the Kenyan flower export market hit hard. The exports to key flower markets feel drastically as European countries and many countries around the world closed borders.

Back in April 2020, the flower export market demand had dipped to 53%, the survey shows that there has been a 44% increase in demand this year.

The CBK also revealed that a lot of orders were made in the wake of the third wave and the uncertainty surrounding it. Many export demands came from key export markets in Europe. All the same, the employment numbers in flower farms also increased and even exceeded the pre-COVID numbers.

“Employment averaged 120% in March 2021 up from 113% and 97% in January and November respectively”, said the report.

The report also showed that the production levels together with export levels also improved to 93% and 97% respectively.

Kenya is ranked third in the world’s leading exporter of cut flower rankings. The country sells more than 70% of its flowers to Europe. The horticulture sector usually contributes the third-highest revenue annually in terms of foreign exchange.

However, Kenya has been relying on Ethiopian airlines to provide additional freights on the Nairobi-Amsterdam routes to ease capacity constraints. This is because the demand for flower products is high but Kenya doesn’t have enough freights.

By Joy Ngoiri